Girl, 11, burned by power line has more surgery

STACYVILLE, Maine — An 11-year-old Stacyville girl who was seriously injured last Wednesday when a power line brought down by a fierce thunderstorm fell on her leg remains heavily medicated in a Boston hospital, her great-grandmother said Monday.

Betty Campbell said that her great-granddaughter Allison Botting underwent surgery again Monday to cut muscle and tissue from her severely burned left leg. Campbell said that doctors at Shriners Hospital in Boston, where the girl is a patient, are still unsure whether they will have to amputate the leg.

Botting is being treated for second- and third-degree burns she suffered in the accident.

The injuries occurred at her home in Stacyville, a small town in Penobscot County.

Emergency responders were called to the home at 913 Station Road after fielding a report at about 6 p.m. last Wednesday that the thunderstorm had knocked down a tree on power lines and sparked a fire.

Botting, her sister Ashley Paradis, 18, and her mother’s boyfriend, Terry Holland, apparently had gone outside to look at the tree, which caught fire after it hit the line. As they were watching, the tree fell to the ground, bringing the power lines down with it. The power lines fell on top of Botting and Paradis, striking the backs of their legs. Both girls suffered burns to the backs of their legs, but Botting was the most severely injured.

Campbell lives a short distance away from the house that her granddaughter Nicole Botting and Holland share with Botting’s daughters. Campbell said she had just spoken to the two girls before the accident. She looked out her window a short time later and saw the two girls and Holland unconscious on the ground.

The 11-year-old has had multiple surgeries on her injured leg so far. She was transferred to the Boston hospital from Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

“Allison is doing about the same right now,” Campbell said late Monday afternoon. “She is facing another two or 2½ weeks of those surgeries to cut out the dead muscle and tissue. They are still waiting and watching before they decide on whether they will have to amputate her leg or not.”

Campbell said that even if the leg is not amputated, Botting will never walk correctly again.

Paradis was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital for treatment and was released a short time after the accident. Campbell said that Paradis has blisters on her legs and feet and was in a great deal of pain in the days after the injury.

Holland dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm when he tried to move the power line off Botting. A jolt of electricity threw Holland several feet when he touched the line.

He remains in Stacyville, but Nicole and Ashley traveled to Boston to be with Allison.

Paradis is expected to return to Stacyville this week, as she will graduate from Katahdin High School later this week.

Donations are being accepted to help the family. While medical care at Shriners Hospital is free, the family still faces expenses while they are in Boston and medical costs for treatment in Houlton and Bangor.

Donors may make checks payable to Nicole Botting. Donations can be mailed to the Stacyville town office, P.O. Box 116, Stacyville 04777. Note that the donation is for the Botting family in the memo line.

Those who would like to send cards to Allison can mail them to: Allison Botting, 84, Shriners Hospital For Children Burn Center, 51 Blossom St., Boston, MA 02114.